I was thinking about this in another thread... Where would you rank Lopez among centers? Where would you rank him in the west and where would you rank him overall?
I don't know where I'd rank him, but if I was LMA I'd be taking him out for dinners and buying him a shiny Rolex like record-breaking running backs do for their linemen and fullbacks.
Tangent: A couple of spots above Lopez on that list is DeJuan Blair--he of no games missed due to knee injury yet in a career where he STILL hasn't made over 1M a year, and signed a vet minimum 1-yr deal with DAL this summer.
Just threw together a random list of centers that I could think of. Couple interesting things jump out to me. Robin's offensive rating is actually really good (120) but his USG% is very low (13.7) compared to the other guys on the list. He's also one of the best offensive rebounders at 4 per game. He has the highest ORB% of the group.
For what Hibbert is getting paid, he's not doing SO MUCH better than Lopez in ORB and DRB and most rebounding cats... I find that interesting.
Defensive rating is where Lopez falls behind. Hibbert, Howard, Jordan and Noah are all under 100. Robin is at 106, BUT his 120 offensive rating is only 3 points behind his brother, and vastly better than the others. It's funny that his offensive rating is so much better, but his usage is so much less than the other centers.
It's not a horrible list, but I think you have to have Boogie Cousins, M. Gasol and Vucevic in there as well. Maybe Gortat?
You know, looking at his per 36 numbers, he is a 14/8/2 guy. His offensive numbers are down this year (expected) but his rebounding numbers are off the hook. Per 36 he is averaging more than two rebounds per game over his career best. I think if you really look at the centers in the league, you'd have to rank him top 10ish Somewhere around 9-11
I don't think it's "funny", necessarily--I think that, much like Przy, he's a pretty good garbageman who doesn't get a lot of plays run for him and is ok with it. I think his ugly-but-seemingly-effective hook is better than anything Joel had in the arsenal, though. I don't know that I want him getting many more touches--not with LMA taking the most shots of anyone in the league, Lillard getting only 4 shots less a game, and Nic and Wes' crazy efficiency still not getting as many touches as they deserve.
I don't think he needs more touches. I'm happy with his offensive production. I just find it interesting that his offensive rating is so good, but his usage is so much lower compared to the other guys. Prz was such a lumbering clod when it came to offense. Robin has been surprisingly very effective. He's not a gazelle, but he's not Joel either. He can catch the ball (something Joel could never do), and he can finish. I'm more than satisfied with his offensive production.
Interesting. It seems the team has found the way to get the most out of his offensive skills. It helps that Lopez is smart enough to stay within the offense and his comfort zone. While he comes across as kind of a goofy guy, that isn't reflected in his play. He is actually a pretty disciplined player.
Definitely. What I love is that he'll get an offensive board and then kick it back out, rather than jack up some bad putback. Hickson used to drive me nuts when he would do that.
Sure seems like Olshey got a guy who was just starting to mature. Offensively, it seems like he is improving every game--within the team structure. His shots: hook, roll on the PnR, dunk/layup, short push "jump" shot. That's really all he needs, but it feels like he is doing a better job of recognizing when to take all those shots. You rarely see him through up a bad shot, but he seems more confident in taking them when he has them (hence the efficiency numbers). Defensively, I'm not sure the defensive rating tells the whole story. He sure seems to have a bigger impact than that number indicates. He isn't <100, but looks more like 101-102.
He is in a class below Howard, Gasol, Horford, Cousins, Noah, Monroe, Hibbert, and his Brother but he is on par with Bynum, Vucevic, Jefferson, Asik, Chandler, Jordan, and Gortat.
Monroe is a power forward though, no? I agree he's behind Howard, Gasol (when healthy), Horford, Cousins, and Hibbert. It's interesting how close his numbers are to Noah though. Noah is definitely a better defender, but Lopez might be better offensively. Robin actually has a better PER. How crazy is that?